Faces of Peshmerga

• Prize
  Bronze in Editorial/Personality
• Photographer
  Douglas Diaz

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Iraq come from a wide range of backgrounds. Some are previous college students that left university to defend against ISIS invasion. Others are stalwart fighters with battlefield stripes that stretch back to the 1980s against Iranian forces. A common instance consists of soldiers who recently left their families, to enter the battlefield. Key village leaders comment that warfare has interfered with their livelihood, but have no alternative to embrace. Regardless of a fighter’s individual background, there is a unanimous feeling of solidarity from the amassed forces to prevent ISIS advancement.